Economics

GDP GDP fell by 0.2 per cent in the three months to August after a 0.1 per cent fall in the three months to July, according to calculations by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

Manufacturing production fell 0.2 per cent in July and declined by 1.3 per cent in the three months to July, compared with the same period last year, official figures show. The wider measure of industrial production, which includes mining, quarrying and energy, dropped by 0.4 per cent in July and fell 1.9 per cent on an annual basis.

Housing market The number of first-time buyers getting on to the property ladder sank to a new low during July when 17,300 people took out a mortgage on their first home, 48 per cent fewer than in July last year and the lowest level since comparable records began in 2002.

US pending home sales fell by more than expected during July as the housing market remains in the doldrums. The National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index fell 3.2 per cent to 86.5, from an upwardly revised reading of 89.4 in June.

US consumer confidence is improving during September. The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index has climbed to 45.8, from 42.8 in August.

Banking & finance

Resolution Clive Cowdery, the insurance entrepreneur, has recruited John Tiner, former head of the Financial Services Authority, the City watchdog, for Resolution, the new consolidation company that is set to float in November for £1 billion.

IG Group, the spread-betting company, said that its first-quarter revenues had risen by 29 per cent to £53 million as it attracted more customers, with new spread betting and contracts for difference accounts for the quarter up by 45 per cent on the year.

Liverpool Victoria, the mutual insurer, said that its first-half overall insurance sales had risen by 21 per cent to £206.5 million after several years of decline.

Citigroup, the US banking group, has issued the biggest samurai bond in history but the debt will be sold directly to individual Japanese investors. Japanese households are beginning to lose faith in the ability of their traditional bank savings to support them as health and other costs rise and wages remain flat.

Standard Chartered, the London-based international banking group, has won a licence to incorporate as a local company in Vietnam, which will allow the bank to offer a wider range of products.

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